Demons in the Dark
by 1nkyMadness
Summary: An unexpected guest arrives at the tower, hiding an awful secret and it will spell trouble for everyone. Especially a certain Dark Bird.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Any and all existing similarities in this story to any other works or people is completely coincidental with the exception of the Teen Titans themselves, which I do not own.**

Dante trudged reluctantly down a random sidewalk. He didn't know where he was, other than that he still hadn't left Jump city. His whole existance seemed... pointless. His father was dead, and he was alone, without a clue. He had been wandering for far too long, ever since that blasted female had brought destruction to the one anchor he had to this world. But he had learned a secret, in his father's abscence. A terrible secret, one that weighed him down as equally as the realization of what he had done. It had all been a game, something that made his dad proud.

But reality finally struck him. Hard. He had done terrible things, probably ended countless innocents lives. And for what? Now he was guilt-ridden, alone, hungry, and cold.

Dante walked into a random store, anything would beat this freezing rain. He heard a hearty "Hello there. Welcome to The Carnival Creeper." Lifting his head, his bright light blue eyes rested on a plump middle aged man who didn't seem to discriminate against the boy's clothes. Dante didn't stink either, as the local homeless shelter had a public shower.

Dante nodded and forced a half smile before pretending to browse through the endless rows of costumes. I should probably head back towards the shelter, he thought. It was already lightning outside, though he didn't make a move to leave. Instead he kept walking, thinking and not looking where he was going. He tripped over a box and humiliatingly landed face first on the floor. Thankfully no one saw how pathetic he looked.

He groaned quietly before picking himself up and dusting himself off only to drop back down to inspect the contents of the box. A pitch black uniform with a simple black mask with open eye holes outlined in crimson were all that were in the box, intriguing Dante. It couldn't be that expensive, it being so plain and all. He figured, why not, and picked it up and brought it back to the register.

"You want this?" The man seemed surprised. "No one wanted it so I was actually about to toss it. People only want the either flashy or skin tight stuff these days. It's special clothe designed to absorb darkness instead of light. Supposed to be creepy." He thought for a minute. "Here you go." He handed it back. "Happy early Halloween kid." Dante tried to give the man what little money he had but he waved it away. "Don't worry about it, it was dumpster bound anyways." Dante smiled and nodded his thanks, eagerly departing the store to find that it had stopped raining. Upon reaching a street lamp, he dawned it over his clothes, noticing it fit rather well. He smiled and closed his eyes. Maybe life had its pleasent moments after all. Now what to do with it?

BLAM! Dante dropped from the impact of the baseball bat to the back of his head. When he hit the ground, the muggers started kicking him.

Raven had decided to go on night patrol, as the usually peaceful quiet of Titan's Tower disturbed her. They had defeated Trigon, but she was still a bit on edge and meditation, usually her center, was not helping right then. So she simply flew, using her magic to keep the rain off of her until it stopped. She wandered around for a good hour, finding nothing of note. She gave up, turning to go home when she saw something catch her eye. There was a fight going on down below, but it didn't look fair. The one being beat upon was on the ground getting severly kicked.

She needed to intervene. So she dropped down so that she floated above the aggressors. "Hey!" She shouted to get their attention. They all stopped and looked up, cursing to themselves before they scattered. She was about to pursue when she saw the other kid, dressed in a costume, was pretty bloody and unconcious. Raven dropped to the ground and knelt beside him, checking for a pulse.

Dante's eyes fluttered open for a moment. Was he dying? Was this the Angel of Death? But he hadn't had a chance to live yet, and he had a feeling he wasn't heaven bound.

"Please… I need more time." He gasped. "I want... to... fix this..." he passed back out.

"And you brought him here why exactly? What if he's a mobster?!" Beastboy waved his arms frantically.

"Hospital was too far. And he isn't a criminal." Raven insisted in her normal even tone, still watching the unconcious Dante, who now was laying in one of the medical room beds.

"How do you know?" Beastboy asked.

"Beastboy, calm down. Cyborg, what's his condition?"

"Bio levels honestly don't look to good. He had nanobots in his bloodstream preventing much from happening and they appear to be slowing down his healing rate which could be a problem."

"Isn't there any way you can override them? Or better yet deactivate them?"

"Maybe. Give me a minute while I identify their communication wavelength." Cyborg turned to the computer again and began typing away furiosly.

"Oh dear, is Raven's friend going to be okay?" Starfire asked concerned.

"I don't know." Robin said.

"I don't know him, I just found him." Raven interjected before turning back to Dante. She brushed a bit of black hair from his pale face. She didn't know why, but she really wanted him to recover.

"And booyah! Now we wait fo-" Cyborg started. Suddenly the computers exploded into a frenzy of beeping and alarms.

"Woah heart rate excelearating too quickly. He's gonna-" Cyborg was interupted again as Dante woke and leapt out of the bed, jumping over a stunned Starfire and landing in a defensive crouch, enlongated claws extending from his fingers. His look was wary, like that of a cornered wild animal. Robin's hand went to his utility belt, Starfire's hands began to glow, Cyborg started up his sonic cannon, and beast boy morphed to a gorilla. Before the situation could any worse Raven shouted, "Wait!" She put a hand up to her friends and looked at Dante.

"We're not gonna hurt you." She said quietly, in a voice the other Titan's rarely ever heard her use. Dante remained weary for a moment before slowly retracting his claws and standing up. He remebered seeing Raven, remembering who he thought she was. "Am I dead?" He asked quietly.

"No, but about three seconds ago you were close to it." Cyborg said, surprised and shocked still.

"Dude." Beastboy said, pointing at Dante. He was the first to notice how rapidly Dante's body was closing up. His bruises were dissapearing and his bones were already back in place.

Dante held his arm up for inspection, watching it heal. He slowly looked up at the others in curiosity.

"You've got nanobots in your blood. They were stopping much of your cell's functions and looked to be limiting your healing processes. I managed to deactivate a group of them." Cyborg explained.

Dante dipped his head in thanks.

"There are several more groups, though they seem a bit more complex. If I were you, I'd sit down. The ones linked to your mind are still active and you have a concusion."

"I'm fine." Dante said, walking forward only for his legs to wobble. Before he could fall, Robin caught him under one arm and held him up. "You need to be careful." He told him. Dante didn't say anything, just stood up and walked more slowly back to the bed with Robin supporting him. Once he had him situated in the bed Robin told him, "You can stay here for the night."

"And get some sleep. No offense, but you look like you need it. This," Cyborg tossed him a little capsule. "will let you sleep safely with the concusion." Dante nodded and swallowed the pill without water. "Now I've gotta get back to bed. Sorry, but I'm tired and I know BB is too." He pointed to the green dog on the floor snoring away. "Gnite." He said, leaving the room. Soon the others followed suit until it was just Raven left with Dante.

Akward silence clouded the room as Dante starred at Raven. She didn't know. Couldn't know. Nor could they. They would have kicked him out by now.

"Soooo. Any idea where your from?" Dante just looked at her, so didn't press the subject. "Your head wound looks pretty bad." She said. "Sorry. I might be able to help." She reached for his forehead but he pulled back. He knew what she could do. Almost as if your reading his mind, she assured him she wouldn't. That was kind of strange he thought, still waving her offer away. "Fine." She said and the sighed before walking out of the room. "Night." She shut the light off, leaving Dante all alone to soak in misery and guilt until a restless sleep finally came.


	2. Chapter 2

The air was brisk as the clouds seemed to stretch thin and twist around like a hurricane. She stood across from him, purple cloak whipping in the wind. The noise from the wind was deafening, tearing through the buildings around him and turning Jump City to ruin as we remained unscathed.

There was hurt in her eyes, he didn't have to hear to see that. He tried to explain, though as his lips moved the wind simply ripped the words from him. But she could speak, and he could hear her concisely through the storm. "You." That one word. How can one, simple word, cause so much pain and guilt. "I didn't know!" Dante shouted guilty, his voice back. The girl turned from him and faded into the ground in the form of shadows. When the darkness dispersed, there was his father. "Dad!" He yelled, reaching for his unmoving father.

The wind could be held back no longer as destruction and carnage hit the eye of the storm, chunks of concrete flying directly at Dante. There was a loud screeching sound as the rubble hit his body with a sickening thud.

Dante awoke with a start, the machine beside him screeching it's alarm to let someone know group two had been deactivated. He started trying to press random buttons to turn it off, the machines security alarms adding to the chaos. Dante finally laid back and used the pillow to cover his ears. Unfortunately, that didn't help him at all.

Then, without warning, the machine shut off. He looked up, expecting Cyborg but instead found Raven with the limp cord she had just unplugged from the wall. Dante chuckled nervously. He felt like an idiot. "Your awake." Raven said in her usual tone.

Dante didn't know what to say, the guilt on his consciousness still fresh from the dream. Raven sighed and turned as off to go. She stopped and said over her shoulder, we are training outside. If you feel up to it, the exercise might help." She started walking again. Dante's head nanobots being deactivated, he hesitantly slipped out of the hospital bed and followed her silently through the foreboding maze that was Titan Tower.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so maybe I've been a little slack on my writing. Okay very, and I don't have a good excuse. Life happened. But anyways, I'll try to be more active hence forth. You know what would really help though :3 Some reviewing and comments XD**

**Anyways, here's part three.**

* * *

He was wary being in the tower. He had almost helped to destroy this thing once. It wasn't my fault though, he struggled to convince himself. He was raised in ignorance. Yet he could not bring himself to hate his dad. Would he go back to the way things were, if his dad was back? He didn't know if he could. Everything just felt so wrong and confusing, he kind of wished he would just fall asleep and wake up with his father, living in blissful ignorance once more.

A sudden rush sunlight invaded his dark thoughts, banishing them to the recesses of his mind and forcing him to shield his eyes.

As his eyes adjusted, he saw Cyborg, running through the obstacle course while Robin worked the controls. He was just finishing up as Dante and Raven joined the others. Starfire turned and beamed at them as they approached.

"Hello friends! I am glad to see you are up and about, as they say." She said, directing the last part towards Dante.

Raven felt a little uncomfortable suddenly about how Starfire was dressed, though it had never been a problem before. The Tamaranian was showing a bit to much skin for her liking. She gave herself a mental shake and pushed the thought away.

Dante gave a hesitant half-smile.

"Did I get it?" Cyborg asked as he reached the group, directing the question at Robin.

The team leader simply shook his head and Cyborg sighed. He had been trying to beat Terra's record so that there wasn't a constant, flashing reminder of what had happened. Beast Boy clapped Cyborg on the back. "It's okay man."

Robin looked up at Dante, his emotions unreadable through his mask. His poker face was a bit unnerving.

"Care to give it a run?" Robin asked, out of nowhere.

"Me?" Dante asked.

Robin nodded, but Raven interrupted, "Perhaps he needs to rest more first." She suggested, keeping her voice neutral.

Cyborg shook his head, looking at the mini computer in his arm. "Actually, he should be ship shape." He said. "As a matter of fact, the third group just dropped."

Robin let a little bit of a smile show through, to reassure him he wasn't being forced into anything. As far as the computer had come up with, the kid was just a street urchin. But he had potential, and if left untrained he was worried they might have another villain on their hands. Better to try to make a Titan out of him first.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." He said.

Dante shook his head. "No, I'll be fine."

He wanted to check for himself how much had been restored. Of course, there was the one part he was worried to test, lest they recognize him. Walking away from Raven's side, he walked onto the field. A thought struck him, perhaps he could seek refuge here, despite the dark irony behind that, until he found a better place to stay. He just had to prove himself.

Before Robin could ask, Dante told him to maximize it. Robin looked over at Cyborg, who nodded to some silent question. He thought the guy wouldn't be life threateningly hurt. Robin adjusted some settings then pressed START as the timer started. The course had since been adjusted, and now there was a basic goal. Capture the flag from the other end. It was even more difficult than the training program the Titan's had used when Terra had been there.

Dante cracked his neck, the sound audible across the field. Then he ran.  
The first obstacle popped up, a mock monster with eight limbs. Before the thing could even move fully out of the ground from where it rose, Dante punched a hole straight through it without slowing down, stunning the team watching. Robin, quick to react, threw up some walls of three foot thick, twenty foot tall titanium to block the way, which Dante promptly leapt over one at a time.

Robin wondered exactly how well he would fare with ranged weapons. Pressing another button, turrets popped up from the ground behind Dante, firing stunning lasers. One hit his leg, making him fall and roll to a stop, though his leg repaired itself almost instantly. Robots popped up out of the ground near him, rushing forward to attack him.

Raven shot Robin a glare. "Don't you think you're-"

Robin interrupted her, "Wait."

She turned back and watched as Dante jumped up and began to rip the robots to shreds as if they were made of paper and fling the pieces at the turrets, his eyes a chilling yet fiery crimson-garnet.  
The turrets stopped firing.  
With a self satisfied smirk, Dante ran onwards, enjoying the high of combat. Afterwards, Robin threw obstacle after obstacle in his path. All of them were dodged or destroyed.  
The flag was returned in three-fourths of the record time, and the field was littered with sparking rubble. Dante breathed heavily, sweating from exhaustion were he had dropped the blue flag. The Titan stared at him for a minute, not sure what to think. The last new comer to set the record had been Terra, and this brought up some buried memories though no one spoke of them.

* * *

**A/N So this didn't feel like the best of scenes, but I promise they will get more in-depth about Dante and his past. Just wondering (I will neither affirm nor deny if you are correct) does anyone have any guesses? :) Comment and Review, it keeps me writing XD**


End file.
